


The Sacking of Aegir

by Metallic_Sweet



Series: Wear Your Colours [7]
Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Fictional Religion & Theology, Fire Emblem: Three Houses Blue Lions Route, Fire Emblem: Three Houses Golden Deer Route, Gen, Letters, M/M, Mental Health Issues, Moral Ambiguity, Oral History, Supernatural Elements
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-19
Updated: 2020-08-19
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:29:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,267
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25995259
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Metallic_Sweet/pseuds/Metallic_Sweet
Summary: Accounts and letters of the incident known as the Sacking of Aegir during the War of the Three Lords, collected by Maya Kirsten after the war.(or, collecting information about an incident no one wants to remember but no one can ignore)
Relationships: Ferdinand von Aegir/Lorenz Hellman Gloucester
Series: Wear Your Colours [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1527893
Comments: 16
Kudos: 43





	The Sacking of Aegir

**Author's Note:**

> Records collected post-canon of [_The Colours of Our Banners_](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21525097/chapters/51310288) but discuss the Sacking of Aegir as it occurred in chapter 4/sections 9 to 11 in [_Wear Your Colours_](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20627687/chapters/49305437) and [_The Great Bridge of Myrddin_](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22622395).

Account of Horace Digger born in Aegir in Red Wolf Moon 1155, now of Ogma, collected and transcribed by Maya Kirsten during Horsebow Moon 1191:

> My shop was in the lower town, which was where the Imperial forces entered. My father instructed me because of my recent leg injury to go seek refuge behind the House walls. He helped me up onto our mill mare, and I could not try to grab him up, too, because he smacked the mare and she took me forward. I admit I looked back, and I could see the Imperial Mage Corps—they were very distinctive with their masks. 
> 
> I am, and continue to be, a strong rider, so I was able to navigate in the confusion up towards the House Aegir. I know this might seem strange, but I could tell something was wrong when I realised that the gates were still shut. The gates to House Aegir were rarely shut except when the Duke—the old Duke—was home, and I did not know he was home. Of course, by then, I think he must have been dead, but, anyways…
> 
> So I was outside the gate with a lot of other people. We were all piling up, and the lower town was already on fire, and there was a lot, a lot of, um… screaming, I guess. I’m sorry—I don’t remember this too clearly because we were all panicking and very afraid…
> 
> I think it was as the cavalry started to fill out the mage ranks that, um, it happened. The, the light. It was so weird, like there was a second setting sun but too close. My mare tried to buck me, but I’m a strong rider, and I didn’t get tossed, but I did end up looking around and saw a lot of the Imperial cavalry get thrown. It… it was really scary. I was scared to look back, but I did and then I saw… 
> 
> They shot him, did you know that? I know they shot him at least five times. He wasn’t wearing armour! He didn’t even move! He just, just stood there. And there was all this light, and he had that damn huge axe, and then I honest to the Goddess thought I had lost my mind because some archer shot him again and instead of flinching or faltering or anything like that, he raised the axe and the walls and gate and grounds of House Aegir brought lightning down from that second sun and suddenly everything except for all of us huddled at the gate was on fire!
> 
> I think it was so beyond my understanding that I stopped being afraid. I watched. Duke Ferdinand spun the axe again, and it happened again, and I think that’s when the Imperial forces started to run away. Not retreat. Just run away. But there was nowhere for them to run. They’d set everything in their path on fire and broken the roads, and now they were on fire and being struck by lightning by, by the Rightful Lord of Aegir, and they couldn’t get close to us in the gateway, so they… 
> 
> [ _Note: Horace paused for a very long time here._ ]
> 
> When they were all dead, Ferdinand shouldered the axe and then he just sort of tipped back and, and fainted, I think, off the wall. We found the gate was now unlocked, and when we got through, Ferdinand was lying on the ground behind where he’d been on the wall, and there were a couple people with him. He was talking about distributing money, and they were, uh, pulling arrows out of him. And then… then we just… that was it, I guess. We all just sort of decided to do whatever he said we should do next. 
> 
> I decided a long time ago I really don’t want to know how he did that or why he did it. I have a good life here in Ogma—my family’s life is here—, but I still consider myself Aegir. I am glad when I hear about how Aegir’s land is doing recently, too. I want to visit. Take my kids, you know? I’d be really happy if they don’t have to see… see it like it was when we left. All those bodies… 
> 
> It was really scary, you know? Right then, all I could hope was that we wouldn’t all die. 

A memorandum for 1181 Pegasus Moon in the primary account ledger concerning medical supplies of House Gloucester:

> _ Duke Aegir arrived _
> 
> _ 2 major abdominal wounds. Bruising. Missing lower floating rib, right side (no memory of surgery; scarring fresh) _
> 
>   * _5 days, antitoxins – class A and B – 5000g_
>   * _1 new blade, steel – 980g_
>   * _Albinean Valerian – 6200g_
> 

> 
> _ DO NOT SEEK REIMBURSEMENT – REFER TO LINE 3 OF NEXT MONTH LEDGER _

Excerpt from account of Count Lorenz Hellman Gloucester born in Gloucester in Garland Moon 1161, collected and transcribed by Maya Kirsten during Guardian Moon 1192:

> Ah. The Sacking. Hm.
> 
> I will be frank. We do not talk about it because Ferdinand does not talk about it. It is… Hm.
> 
> No, I do want to talk about it. He is not seeing this, is he? Or reading it, I suppose? 
> 
> ...He is. I suppose maybe it would get him to talk about it, which I do agree would be good for him. Well then. You and Raphael are both very oddly astute people.
> 
> [ _Note: At this point, Count Gloucester left the conversation for about ten minutes to make tea._ ]
> 
> So. You would like me to talk about my… knowledge of the Sacking of Aegir? I was not there. It happened during Pegasus Moon of the first year of the war, and House Gloucester was wintering Claude, then the presumed Duke Riegan. My parents were also still sheltering me, I understand now, so I was not informed of the news of strife in Aegir. My father informed me only after we… 
> 
> My apologies. I am dallying. I will try again. 
> 
> I became fond of Ferdinand in our academy days. Back then, I intended to find a wife and thought that was the proper way of things. Ferdinand was… It is not love at first sight, but I liked him almost immediately. We shared a lot in common between tea and riding, and Ferdinand has always been entertaining for conversation. I admired his singing and dancing, and he is good at all common weapons. If he wasn’t so damn obtuse, he could have courted anyone. 
> 
> Instead, he had… Well, Hubert and Ferdinand were not courting. You know, even after all this time, I don’t even know if Ferdinand loved him exactly. He says he did, and  _ some _ people will claim Hubert did, but sometimes I don’t know if either of them knew how to love each other. I hate this part because sometimes Ferdinand isn’t quite right, and I know it’s because of Hubert and the old way of Adrestia. It makes me angry, and I try very hard not to be angry because Ferdinand takes it so much to heart, and it’s not something he can fix. 
> 
> He tries to fix everything, you know. It’s why Aegir has recovered like it has and honestly a great deal why Gloucester is in its current good position. He doesn’t talk about the Sacking, and I think sometimes he deliberately pretends he’s forgotten about it, but Ferdinand never forgets anything. He’s also not a liar, so all I can conclude is sometimes he sends his terrors to the Goddess and Saint Cethleann to give himself a reprieve. 
> 
> When Ferdinand came with his people to Gloucester, we were told a great deal of bizarre things. From what I understand, Ferdinand’s father was going to make a run for it through a tunnel system beneath House Aegir. He was caught by his own men, and when Ferdinand came down into the tunnels after being alerted, he witnessed the tailend of the scuffle, and the former Duke was dead. Ferdinand took his father’s battle axe and then went out to the main gate. There he climbed up onto the wall and summoned both the power of his House, for his blood was now its master, and his own power. His House answered, and that combined with his will drove the invasion out. 
> 
> That is what I know. About what came after, I know a good deal more, but that I will not share. It is not my story to tell. 

Excerpt from a letter dated 12 Pegasus Moon 1192 by D. Hresvelg, only of her name, born Dorothea Arnault in Horsebow Moon 1161, to Maya Kirsten: 

> I will preface this to explain that I did not know the majority of these details at the time of the Sacking. I thought it would be like our attempt to take Garreg Mach but much more successful. Aegir would have a smaller force, and the only person of note would be Ferdinand, who I expected would surrender and come to us on his own will for the safety of his citizens. It was only afterwards I learned what I will lay out here. 
> 
> Simply put: the reasoning for attempting to take Aegir was because it is a strategic territory. It had a stable pre-war economy and lively port, unlike the majority of the south-east coast of Adrestia. We wanted to prevent the loss of that port in particular because it was our primary connection to Morfis trade routes and because Boramas and Rusalka were reluctant to join El’s war effort without Aegir support and access to the Aegir cider trade. I understood these reasons because those were the ones shared with me at the time.
> 
> The other part I knew and thought I understood was that Dimitri and Claude had an alliance between each other; we were not entirely correct as to the nature of it. Ferdinand was a member of the Blue Lions House in our academy days and had stood against us at the Battle of Garreg Mach. Lord Arundel suggested that we try to “talk reason” to him, pointing out that Dimitri and Claude would have each other’s interests over that of Aegir. I thought this was an angle that would appeal to him, and El agreed because Ferdinand has, and always will be, loyal to his people. Looking back and knowing what Lord Arundel was, I think he may have desired to take Ferdinand alive for the use of his blood. I did not know anything of that then. 
> 
> Hubert did, however, and I think that is why he advocated for a full mage corps. We all thought he was being overly cautious because House Aegir has never fielded any sort of magical battalion. Now I suspect he ordered the mage corps to make sure to kill Ferdinand. He could easily install his own mages and spies that way, and Ferdinand’s death was a preferable fate to what would have been done to him alive. 
> 
> This is why it became a Sacking. I don’t know if the cavalry and infantry were instructed the same as the mage corps, but Aegir was treated as total war; there was no intention upon their arrival to take any prisoners or leave anyone alive. The orders still survive, so I do not believe I need to reiterate those horrible things here. I did not know the contents because I trusted El and Hubert too much. 
> 
> I did not believe the initial reports either. You have to understand: it was extremely confusing. I understand that Ferdinand probably killed off the majority of the mage battalion and caused substantial casualties to the cavalry and infantry. Those who survived and did not desert returned with massively conflicting reports to Enbarr. We did not get a confirmation on whether Ferdinand was dead or alive until the following summer when one of Hubert’s spies recognised a “Son of Cichol” at Claude’s official installation as Duke Riegan. We did not get confirmation until almost two years later that Ludwig was dead. What we did know definitively was that Ferdinand had chosen his side, and that we had lost 267 troops directly to him. 
> 
> From a strategic point of view, this was enough reason to treat Ferdinand as a singular entity with caution. We similarly had to consider House Gloucester, who we knew were sheltering Ferdinand regularly, a major threat. I have come intimately to understand that we should have considered House Gloucester its own threat for that is a House too strong in its magic. It is lucky that we never attempted to invade.
> 
> On a personal level, though, the Sacking of Aegir was a gross miscalculation for everyone involved. Edelgard and Hubert always trusted each other, but the Sacking was a wedge between them because I think, while they agreed about why it initially was conceived, the outcome put them in different philosophical courts. I never trusted Arundel after that, and he knew it. Edelgard and I became closer, but neither of us liked the cost. 
> 
> Hubert was never the same. It didn’t help that Ferdinand took up an adjacent role to Hubert for the Roundtable, and Hubert could never treat Ferdinand with the same dispassion that he could everything else. I know they were terrible to each other. I think Hubert, especially towards the end, desired to die by Ferdinand’s hand because it was the only death he could justify to himself. Ferdinand knew this, too. It took me a very long time to understand, and I like them both less for it. 
> 
> The Sacking should never have happened. All of this could have been prevented. That, if nothing else, is what I hope you take away from this letter. 

Missive to H.V. found in Abyss Library between a book of erotic poetry and a popular fiction serial about pirates: 

> Lost 10 and 17. 8 reports the bridge to main gate appeared “alive [sic]”. Upon investigation, the mud was like tar and we could not proceed on foot. Hann. suggests Crests but A. does not agree. I do not know what to think, so I am placing this with Y. for your knowledge. 
> 
> Hope it reaches you. 1000 years approaches. 
> 
> \- 4

Excerpt from a letter from Archbishop Byleth Eisner to Maya Kirsten, undated but presumed to be in the Year 1192:

> I was not conscious for most of the war, so what I know about the Sacking is what I have been told by parishioners. I attempt to summarise this below as a chronological narrative. 
> 
> Imperial records date the event that became colloquially termed the Sacking of Aegir on 1 Pegasus Moon 1182 with movement of forces involved on the previous day and overnight (31 Guardian Moon). Duke Ferdinand von Aegir’s petition for my blessing of the new House Aegir chapel and dedication to Saint Cichol denotes the event, which he terms the Battle of Aegir, as occurring in the early morning of that day. Therefore, the date of 1 Pegasus Moon 1182 is correct across major accounts. 
> 
> Weather for Aegir and the former Bergliez and Varley territories is recorded as mild following light snowfall the previous three days. Imperial troops had little issue in their advance. What surprises me is that there is no scouting report from Aegir about the advance, but perhaps it did not survive. I am also aware you wish to convince Ferdinand to talk about this, so perhaps the missing scouting report would be a place to start. We are all aware that he’s a living filing cabinet. 
> 
> Imperial troops were to advance through the southern part of Aegir, which is recorded as primarily hazelnut fields. The trees would provide cover as well as the long winter night. It seems the advance had no issues, although part of the infantry battalion got temporarily lost and fell behind. Therefore, the flank cavalry were added to the initial advance. This would have catastrophic effects on the eventual Imperial casualties.
> 
> The orders were to take the southern town because this is where the Aegir garrison was. In the Imperial communications between the former Lord Arundel and Emperor Edelgard, they discussed the possibility that Duke Ludwig von Aegir would be amassing troops. We now know this was not the case as Ferdinand and others have confirmed that the former Duke Aegir attempted to escape alone with assets. The possibility of a rebellion is the official reason for an Imperial attempt to recapture Aegir territory. 
> 
> Addition to the orders were by Hubert von Vestra, who instructed the mage corps to set fire to the town and to make sure no one escaped from the House Aegir. It appears that Hubert’s orders superseded those of Arundel and Edelgard when a large mage contingent was involved in most Imperial wartime action. I am not entirely sure why this is because there is no official or surviving reasoning given for this. I can only assume it comes from conversations that no one remembers or, if they do, will not share. 
> 
> Thus, Imperial troops attacked indiscriminately in the southern town and set fire to the major buildings. Reports vary greatly regarding civilian casualties. Ferdinand has admitted that he struggled to keep track of casualty numbers from 1 Pegasus Moon until he and those with him arrived at the Great Bridge of Myrddin, and reports range from about 100 lives directly lost that day to Imperial belligerents to upwards of 350. As Imperial records do not record any casualty numbers aside from their own (267), this is an uncertainty as well. 
> 
> Survivors from the town either ran into the cover of the apple fields in the western part of Aegir or towards the main gate of House Aegir, which then faced south. This is where survivors report finding the gates locked before witnessing Ferdinand, with the Great Axe of Aegir, climbing up over his own wall. Isabella, of longtime employ of House Aegir, has pointed out that the gates had a complex mechanism that had to be operated by at least two people from inside the gate tower, so Ferdinand would not have been able to open the gate on his own. 
> 
> This is where we have to rely entirely on recounts of what was an extremely hectic and traumatic experience for everyone involved. I specifically use both of those descriptors because it is what parishioners have regularly used to describe how they feel about the Sacking. I am uncertain how Ferdinand feels about it because he has been adamant in the past that he feels “rather differently” about many details but also a great deal of uncertainty. 
> 
> (Personally—and do not tell him this—I think it is less that he doubts his own memory and more that he understands it too well.)
> 
> What is generally agreed upon is: Ferdinand was on the wall. There was a great deal of light. Ferdinand did something with his axe as everyone remembers the axe. Then there was magic: some sort of Fire and some sort of Thunder. Imperial forces took heavy, immediate damage and chose to retreat. I know Ferdinand’s skills quite well, and he should not have been naturally possible of the mass destruction that occurred. I am hesitant to make assumptions as to how this happened. I suspect Count Lorenz Gloucester understands best, but he does not share secrets. 
> 
> After the Imperial forces retreated in haste, they left their dead behind. I have never been able to confirm this with Ferdinand, but it seems the surviving citizens of Aegir took it upon themselves to take care of the dead in various ways as Imperial records mention they were found buried and frozen by the elements when they returned two weeks later. 
> 
> Ferdinand along with those who chose to travel with him began to make north. There was, however, a major blizzard that would wipe out crops in Gronder Field and Varley, and this is why it took him and those with him almost a full month to make it to Myrddin. It is also why they were not pursued. The rest of these events is more common knowledge and outside the scope of what you are researching. 
> 
> I hope that this has been helpful. I also hope that you are able to convince Ferdinand to share a bit more than what has been relevant to our rebuilding and recovery efforts. I believe it would be good for him.

Excerpt of the account of Duke Ferdinand von Aegir born in Aegir in Horsebow Moon 1161, collected and transcribed by Maya Kirsten during Ethereal Moon 1192:

> It was not a Sacking. 
> 
> That is why I agreed to talk about this. I want to clear that up. If it is helpful for the health and minds of others to view it as such, then I am content with that interpretation. I am the Rightful Lord of Aegir, though, and it is a bit different. 
> 
> For me, it was not a Sacking. My father had a choice. He could have warned the town and our House staff of the contents of reports from the south of advancing Imperial troops, but he did not. He filled his pockets with gold and took his axe which he could no longer effectively wield, and he tried to flee on his own through the tunnels.
> 
> I came to understand what had happened when Rolondo, my old physician, came to tell me. I had seen the fire in the lower town, and Rolondo had been mortally injured by my father. I stayed with Rolondo until he was gone, and then I went down into the tunnels. I do not know exactly what I intended to do, except that I should have done it sooner because I knew what sort of man my father was.
> 
> When I came upon my father, he was already in combat with Nathaniel, Isabella, and a couple others I will not name. My father saw me coming down the tunnel, and that gave Nathaniel the opening to snap his neck. That is how my father died: disgraced and judged by those who knew him best as he attempted to sack Aegir. That was the true sacking. 
> 
> As for what happened after… 
> 
> [ _Note: At this point, Duke Aegir went silent for a very long time._ ]
> 
> Hm… well, I suppose I will not be much help to you here. Lorenz probably said something about how I pretend not to remember, but I really don’t have that clear an idea. I was taught very little of magic, and I also am not able to feel it because of, ah, how I do it. I have a… a built-in magical adjunct, if that makes any sense. Lorenz could explain this better, but I get an additional boost when on Aegir land itself. 
> 
> As for what I did that people and bards like to talk and sing about so much, I really do not know at this point what is fact and what is fiction. The Imperial records of their casualties is probably reliable, although I do find the knowledge I did that to be… awful, really. That is horrible. I am reprehensible for many reasons, including that.
> 
> My only real sense of memory of that day is that I was so angry. I was angry at my father, and I was angry at the Empire, and, and I was angry at everything, really. I remember taking my father’s axe, and I remember running back through the tunnels and up into the courtyard and I… 
> 
> I got up onto the wall somehow. I don’t know if I took a stairwell or climbed or what I did, but I got up on the wall, and I could see the Imperial troops, and down at the gate, which was locked, my people were there, and they were screaming and crying and very scared and I—I had had enough. I was so mad… at everything… 
> 
> I just wanted to cast Thoron. Or Bolganone. I doubt I really thought about which one. Maybe I thought I could throw my axe. Thinking is… I wasn’t… It is different in battle. 
> 
> That is what I can tell you. I am sorry. I probably created more questions than answers. 

Excerpt from a letter from Count Lorenz H. Gloucester to Maya Kirsten, dated 9 Red Wolf Moon 1192:

> I wanted to follow up briefly regarding your research. I have spoken to Ferdinand about speaking with you again, but he repeats that he has told you all he is able. I would recommend we not speak to him about it for a while. He may warm to talking on the topic in the future as time sometimes is what is needed to heal such wounds. 
> 
> What I wish to share is this: Ferdinand really does not have much talent with magic. It is not so much a lack of skill and more an inability to control. I hate that stupid axe, but it is an Aegir heirloom, and helps him much like a staff would. That, his magical adjunct, and the fact he was on Aegir land itself all play a part in the magic used that day. 
> 
> As the Archbishop said, I do not share the secrets of my House. It is not the way of House Gloucester. But I am not ungenerous, and Ferdinand will share what he may if and when he is able. 
> 
> I hope that you and Raphael are well. May the Goddess keep you safe and in good health. Please reach out if you should need anything in the future. It is lovely to hear from you. 


End file.
